


Trees

by franticatlantic



Category: Bandom, Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, deer!ty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-13
Updated: 2016-11-13
Packaged: 2018-08-30 16:15:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8539837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/franticatlantic/pseuds/franticatlantic
Summary: "Find your bird yet?"
"No. I'm not sure it was a bird."





	

**Author's Note:**

> for an [anon](http://vintagetyler.tumblr.com/post/153071574128/if-it-isnt-too-much-trouble-can-u-do-another-fic) on tumblr who wanted more deer ty! :3

Tyler’s ears flickered like the flutter of moth’s wings and his mouth dripped with water as he raised his head to stare across the stream. He blinked large doe eyes and glanced back at Josh, who was sitting on the trunk of a fallen tree, watching over him. The sun was bright, glinting off of the slowly moving water, and the hum of the insects around them was comforting, like a warm blanket drawn close.

“You see something, Ty?” Everything smelled like berries and the clean, free scent of nature.

“A bird, I think.” Tyler swiped the back of his hand across his chin, flicking the water droplets to the ground, where the thirsty dirt drank them up.

Josh stood, stretched in the mid afternoon light with Tyler still glancing over his shoulder. “Y’wanna check it out?”

“Can we?” Tyler’s ears went ramrod straight, poking up happily from his head. When he smiled, his eyes crinkled and became marginally smaller, though still bigger than any human’s Josh had ever seen.

“Of course. Come here.”

Tyler joined him at the bank, and Josh leaned down to divest him first of one shoe and then the other. Tyler trilled in astonishment when his toes hit the soft sand, digging his feet in and splashing in the shallow water. Josh looked on with pleasant fondness, a warmth in his chest that had nothing to do with the heat of the day.

He took his shoes and socks off and pillowed both pairs in one arm, reaching out to Tyler with his other hand. Tyler took it readily, though he approached the deeper water with more trepidation. His nose twitched in that way he had when he wasn’t quite sure about something, eyes going wide again.

“It’s okay,” Josh assured him, and gave a gentle tug on Tyler’s hand.

Tyler submerged first one foot and then the other and when he came to the conclusion that the leisurely rushing water wouldn’t hurt him, he jumped in beside Josh, wading into water that came up so high it got the bottoms of their shorts wet.

They paused in the middle where the stream was deepest, so that Tyler could splash delightedly around, feet skidding over smooth stones and fingers skimming the surface. Josh cupped some of the sparkling water in one hand and dumped it on Tyler’s head when he wasn’t looking. The water dewed in his hair and on the fur of his ears, turned his antlers a dark sable instead of their usual gray.

_“Josh!”_ He tossed his head, spraying water over Josh, who only grinned and laughed - under the savage brilliance of the day the cool spring water felt refreshing.

Hopping over stones and emerging onto the other bank dripping, Tyler made a come hither gesture in Josh’s direction.

When Josh joined him, juggling their shoes and socks, Tyler grabbed him by the elbow with both hands and began pulling him into the woods, dipping around trees and over tangled roots with ease. He traversed the traitorous forest terrain much quicker than Josh whenever they came out here. Josh, who had to pick his way carefully over brambles and by thorn bushes and by the time he had, Tyler was much farther ahead of him.

He found him today seated on a tree stump with a flower in his mouth, chewing thoughtfully. When he pulled the stem from between his lips and smiled, Josh saw he had the flower’s blue petals sticking out from between his teeth.

“Find your bird yet?” Josh asked.

Ears turning, listening, as his tongue rooted around his mouth dislodging the petals, Tyler hummed. “No. I’m not sure it was a bird. It might have been-“

Something rustled in the fallen leaves not two yards away and Tyler’s ears swiveled straight back. The flower stem fell from his hand and he stood carefully to step daintily into the patch of leaves, making far less noise than Josh would have if he tried.

Tyler stared intently at the ground and made a little “ff” sound from between his teeth when a rabbit hopped out from the cover of leaves. Its fur was gray and downy, nose twitching alongside Tyler’s as Tyler bent immediately to pet it. It let him, as Josh knew it would, laying patiently low to the ground as Tyler’s tan fingers sifted through its fur and stroked the short hair between its ears.

“Josh,” Tyler sighed, entranced by the sight of the rabbit now sniffing his fingers. “It’s a bunny. Come look.”

“I can’t, Ty.” If Josh moved even a muscle right now the rabbit would scamper away and Tyler would be upset.

Best to let the two be for now, Tyler cooing over the rabbit and the rabbit sitting idly at Tyler’s damp, muddy feet. He couldn’t help but notice, however, that the insides of the rabbit’s ears were stark white, like the markings on Tyler’s forehead.

“Can we…” Tyler stopped himself, stared at the rabbit for a second more, and then gave a little tap to its fluffy tail. The rabbit took off, bounding over leaves and fallen branches until it was lost to the forest once more.

Standing sluggishly, Tyler stared after it with downturned ears and shimmering eyes.

“Ty?” Josh stepped forward now, brushed the backs of his fingers against Tyler’s cheek to see his nose twitch. “What’s wrong?”

“I was gonna ask if we could take him home, but it’s better to leave him here. He’ll be safe, right?” Dolefully, Tyler fixed his enormous doe eyes on Josh and Josh ghosted a hand at the top of Tyler’s head, where his hair met the fur of his ears.

“Of course. They have pretty strict hunting laws in this county. He’ll be okay.”

With a high, delighted squeak, Tyler launched himself at Josh, wrapped his arms around Josh’s shoulders and gave him one of his signature licks, right up the center of his cheek. His breath smelled like flowers. “Thank you for keeping me safe. I’m happy with you.”

“I’m happy with you too, Ty. It’s my job to keep you safe, right?” Josh wrapped an arm around Tyler’s slim shoulders and squeezed.

Tyler batted his lashes and rotated his ears. “It’s not. Which is why I have to thank you. Without you, I could have gotten hurt. Maybe badly.”

Overhead, a bird chirped. Tyler’s head jerked up to look, nose working, and Josh leaned in to kiss him. A gentle kiss, and dry, but a slow one. One that had Tyler huffing through his nose and blushing, pink intermingling with the white on his forehead.

Tyler grabbed his hand and leaned in so close that his wet nose brushed the curve of Josh’s jaw. “Can we explore more?”

With a nod and a squeeze of Tyler’s fingers, Josh led him deeper into the forest.

**Author's Note:**

> always taking requests at my [tumblr](http://vintagetyler.tumblr.com/).


End file.
